The present invention relates generally to a system for handling livestock and more particularly to a system, means, device or apparatus to effect the efficient handling of livestock in the loading/unloading of the same at a farm site or processing plant and transport therefrom/thereto.
It will be understood and appreciated that the foregoing description of the present invention may be explained as it pertains to the handling of poultry but in no way shall be indicative of the limiting of xe2x80x9clivestockxe2x80x9d thereto.
Commercial poultry, such as turkeys, chickens, guineas, peafowl, ostriches, ducks, geese, swans and pigeons, have been a main staple of protein throughout history. For centuries poultry was raised and processed on the farm to be locally delivered to those who desired fresh poultry. But as the population migrated to towns and cities, the demand for processed poultry increased dramatically. Fresh processed poultry now had to be transported to the markets located in these cities.
The poultry was customarily gathered manually at poultry houses, boxed or crated with numerous birds per crate, manually loaded aboard an open truck or van, and transported. The problems created by such a procedure are both numerous and significant. The manual handling of the poultry not only creates a materially high cost involved in raising the poultry and preparing them for market, but it also creates certain physical dangers to both the poultry as well as the workmen.
During hand catching and subsequent handling of poultry, is some birds are bruised, injured, or even killed due to violent reaction of the birds or unintentional rough handling by the workmen. Additionally, fowl inevitably beat their wings in an effort to escape upon capture, frequently resulting in a bird striking the handler with sufficient force to cause physical injury.
As technology was developed for the processing and safe storage of poultry, small processing plants developed and the manual loading of crates or coops began to improve. One of the first significant improvements, particularly in the turkey industry, was to create coops or crates which were permanently attached to a trailer or truck bed. These trucks contain large numbers of individual coops attached on the truck body. The coops having doors opening outward and being arranged in horizontal rows and vertical tiers. These coops or compartments typically having a permanent middle portion, and as such require loading from both sides of the truck. Not only is this time consuming, but loading from both sides also requires the trailer to turn around with all of its weight on one side thus causing an unsafe situation to driver, machinery and trailer.
The usual method of loading the poultry is to catch the animals individually and then lift and carry them to the coops while using makeshift platforms to reach the higher coops or to hand the birds to other workmen who are clinging to or standing on supports attached to the sides of the truck. This causes a high incident of injuries to workers and animals alike, not to mention the considerable time requirements needed to accomplish the loading/unloading of a complete truck.
In light of the preceding problems, there has been an effort in the art to develop a method of loading poultry for transport with a minimal amount of manual labor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,300, issued Dec. 19, 1972 describes a system for handling poultry and transferring the same from poultry house to processing plant or purchases. This is accomplished by a process in which suction is applied to the poultry in the house to urge the poultry into a conveying conduit where air pressure is subsequently applied for forcing the poultry along the conduit and into a suitable bin. Air pressure is again used to urge the poultry out of the bin and into the processing plant. Although this system utilizing air pressure does solve some of the problems associated with that of manual labor, the air pressure tends to force the poultry through the loading system, and does not allow for a smooth and even flow. This constant forcing inevitably damages the poultry in some way, including broken legs and/or wings, which results in an adverse affect on their grading when dressed, and consequently a loss of revenue to the producer.
Another attempt to solve the problems associated with loading poultry on a transport vehicle was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,835, issued Nov. 4, 1975. This patent describes a complete conveying system that utilizes conveyors on the poultry transport vehicle that may be operated in conjunction with other if external conveyors to effect embarkation and debarkation of the transport. If external conveyors are desired, this disclosure provides for an elevator and coupling assembly for coupling an external conveyor unit at selective heights to the various tiers of the poultry conveying transport apparatus.
Although manpower and its associated high costs are reduced with the use of such a conveying system, problems still remain. This patent discloses the combination of a main conveying apparatus, external conveyors and an elevator and coupling assembly. This assembly is integral to the main apparatus, and the changing of tier positions during loading and unloading cannot be accomplished solely by the external conveyors. Additionally, manual labor is still needed to load and unload the bottom of the external conveyors. Still another problem with this external conveyor is the steep angle at which the poultry are handled, causing the poultry to become uneasy, and xe2x80x9cRoll Backxe2x80x9d to occur.
Today, the poultry business is a multi-billion dollar industry. Large companies dominate the production, slaughter and marketing of products. Since poultry companies are now fewer in number, they therefore demand large quantities of animals daily for processing. In fact, enormous numbers of poultry are transferred daily from production facilities to the slaughter plant or to different production facilities en route to the slaughter plant.
In view of the aforementioned needs and the shortcomings of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system that overcomes the deficiencies of the current practices whereby an apparatus and system is provided for loading/unloading livestock for transport with a minimum amount of labor and with maximum efficiency at a minimum cost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a livestock loading/unloading system which maximizes efficiency by increasing the number of animals transported per shift and decreasing any damage to the animals and decreasing any contamination during the processing of the animals.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a livestock loading/unloading system which minimizes labor costs by reducing the number of employees as well as the turnover rate of employees.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a livestock loading/unloading system whereby the manual and perhaps rough handling of the livestock is eliminated thereby improving overall animal quality by reducing animal stress and minimizing any damages sustained to the livestock.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile livestock loading/unloading apparatus that is compatible with the current industry loaders and processing plants and can be shared among confinement areas, farms, or even towns due to its adaptability to all trailers.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a self-cleaning and disinfecting livestock loading/unloading apparatus.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a user friendly livestock loading/unloading apparatus that may be operated effectively by a single person.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.
According to the present invention, there is provided a livestock loading/unloading apparatus having a base, mainframe and telescopic section defining a transport system. The base, mainframe and telescopic section are pivotably attached to one another while the mainframe and telescopic sections are extendable and retractable. The apparatus has a control system for its overall leveling and pivotal height adjustments, as well as the extending/retracting capabilities of its conveyance.